Two people suffered serious injuries when their single-engine Cessna 150 airplane crashed about 1:21 p.m., Monday, Sept. 28 into trees at Discovery Bay Golf Club, about 4 miles southwest of Port Townsend.

The plane's engine had stuttered and appeared to lose power before crashing into heavy brush just north of the tee box on the golf course's 17th hole, according to a press release from East Jefferson Fire Rescue (EJFR).

EJFR personnel arrived to find two occupants, a man and a woman, trapped in the wreckage. Both appeared to be in their 70s, though EJFR officials declined to release their names.

When found, the woman was conscious, but the man, who was piloting the aircraft, was not, according to Jefferson County Undersheriff Joe Nole. The man later regained consciousness, Nole said.

Rescue crews used a Hurst Jaws of Life tool to free the man and woman before transporting them to ambulances, and then used a water and foam spray to neutralize the hazard created by leaking airplane fuel.

EJFR Fire Chief Gordon Pomeroy called in two helicopters from Airlift Northwest, both of which landed nearby on the 17th fairway about 30 minutes later. The man and woman were then flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

About 20 minutes after his arrival, Chief Pomeroy conducted a conference call with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to share identifying information from the plane fuselage and details of the wreck.

Firefighters cleared the scene at 2:26 p.m. and turned the site over to deputies from the Jefferson County Sheriffs Office.

Firefighters from Port Ludlow Fire & Rescue assisted with the incident response.

Scott Erickson of Tailspin Tommy's at the Jefferson County International Airport said he watched as the plane took off Monday afternoon toward the west. The golf course is just more than a mile west of the airport.

Erickson spoke with two people who had been golfing along the course's 17th hole when the plane flew over their heads.

He said those witnesses saw the plane coming in fast as it tried to land on the fairway, bouncing instead and again becoming airborne before striking a tree and descending into the foliage below. All the while, the plane's engine was not running, the golfers told Erickson.

Erickson suspects the plane had engine trouble and also suspects the pilot may have been looking to land at a private airstrip just north of the golf course. Instead, the plane ended up in trees about 300 yards south of the Larry Scott Memorial Trail on the public golf course's north end.

Discovery Bay Golf Club manager Randy White said holes 16 and 17 remain closed to the public until an FAA agent inspects the scene and Erickson is able to remove the wreckage.

White was expecting an FAA agent to visit the course Tuesday. Erickson said he would collect the plane thereafter and take it to the airport.

(The first version of this story appeared Sept. 28 on ptleader.com.)